Past the Borderline of Best Friends
by xXSleepingXx
Summary: Crow and Seto have been best friends since the first grade, and entering their sophomore year many things happen. Will they finally see what everyone ELSE has seen between them both for years? CrowXSeto, SaiXShin briefly mentioned.
1. Ganymede

People who are reading my other story "A Pirate's Life for Me"…I am so very sorry, I got this idea and it wouldn't leave and it was distracting, and in the end I ended up working on this then finishing the next chapter. I heavily apologize, but I hope this makes up for it.

Full title

Past the Borderline of Best Friends, next stop Ganymede

Seto and Crow were a pair that everyone considered an unlikely friendship. It had started in the first grade, when Ms. Chiyo's first grade class had been working on hand made Valentine Day cards before snack time, the elderly woman had told them that they could do what the wanted on their cards and only supervised to make sure no one was eating glitter, cutting someone's hair (Or trying to, safety scissors didn't cut well), or shoving glue up their nose and squeezing the bottle. So she wasn't at all surprised to see the trouble maker of her class, Crow, spilling copious amounts of glitter over some poor child's glue covered card. It made her a little angry when she noticed that said poor child was one of her favorites, sweet little red haired Seto.

When she confronted the young black haired boy, he said that he had 'only been trying to help', but the teacher didn't buy that and made him apologize to Seto, and made him work at the desk in the Bad Corner until recess. Snack time came after that, and during that time all of the hand made cards were given to other children in the class. The girls passed out overly decorated pink and red hearts while most of the boys passed out green or blue hearts with their current favorite TV hero or monster, but to Ms. Chiyo two boys stood out from everyone. She was surprised to see Crow and Seto standing away from the group.

Right after they had gotten inside, Crow had grabbed the red head's hand and pulled him away from the group, leaving Seto feeling confused. Then he pulled a white heart cut with the fancy safety scissors with waves on the blades with random bits of glitter and stickers scattered around. But in the center in big, red lettered stencil hand writing it read **I'M SORRY**, with a small red heart around the words. The valentine was pretty much shoved into Seto's chest before Crow ran off, and Seto stood there until the teacher told the class to go back to their seats because they were going to work on cursive today, and since Crow sat on the other side of the room Seto really didn't have the chance to ask him about it. It wasn't until the end of the day when Crow went to his cubby he noticed a large gathering of glitter right in front of his alone, and setting on top of his little bag was a sloppily cut, smooth edge heart that was almost completely glitter (glitter was falling off it and it wasn't moving!). Picking it up, more glitter fell off revealing shiny lines of dried glue and a red base of paper. It was what was glued to the top, somehow not falling off with the glitter that caught his eye though. A slip of white paper, with a sloppily written message in thin blue marker. It read **'Thank you for helping me!'**.

The next morning in class, Crow sat next to Seto and would not move, no matter how many times Ms. Chiyo told him to go back to his own seat, until the poor old woman finally gave up and went on teaching class. The two after that were inseparable, however now in their sophomore year of high school people didn't think of their friendship so much as unlikely as…well, their friend Ren (whom they met in fifth grade), really put it best at the start of their sophomore year in the summer.

"Honestly, why don't you two just kiss and get it over with?" Ren was not the first, and certainly not the last person to realize how the two boys acted around each other was past the borderline of friendship. The way Crow always seemed to find joy in the random moments he made Seto blush, or when parting ways to different classes would kiss the other boy's hand or the way they would hold hands walking to classes they shared, or the general possessiveness he showed over Seto? The fact that Seto put up with all of this, happily even, how sometimes out of nowhere in class Seto would take Crow's hand, the fact that he worried like Crow was dying over even the tiniest scratch? That wasn't just past the borderline of friendship, it had crossed over six oceans on a trip to Ganymede (A star 390,019,410 miles away, for those who don't know) into the land of Idiocy to the province of Obliviously in Love.

She says oblivious, because neither boy seems aware, no matter how Ren phrases it, or draws (terrible) diagrams, or explains it in the simplest way that she knew. The boys look at her like she's crazy whenever she does this, but she knows she's not. She may be the only one verbally trying to show them, but she wasn't the only one who noticed, she didn't know who all did (she knew some), but she knew that she wasn't alone in the fact that she knew Crow and Seto loved each other…she just wished she wasn't the only one ever trying to explain it.


	2. Thesis

Silvia Bell was 20 years old, a psychology major in college who had come to the high school to simply study it's students for her quarter final project late in the summer. For her thesis, originally it was going to be on the student body as a whole, until she noticed an odd pair. A red haired boy in a baggy, turquoise hoodie and a black haired boy in a funny looking purple hat, who on first glance saw the latter kiss the other's hand before they parted ways. It wasn't that, however, that got her attention, it was what she overheard after the boys were a good distance away.

_"Are those two dating yet?"_ "Don't think so, Seto would be blushing more if they were I bet." _"Oh come on…how many years has it been now?"_ "Why're you asking me?" _"Because you've known them for, like, forever."_ "I dunno, middle school maybe? Crow was always like that with Seto anyways."

Silvia quit eavesdropping on the conversation and started walking again, thought after thought passing through her mind, and when she saw the pair again she asked them if she could watch them during school, for a college paper she told them. The boys agreed, and Silvia called her professor, telling him that she was changing her thesis.

The week passed slowly, and soon the lavender haired student had gotten used to the boys schedules. They had five total classes, only two of which they shared and they shared the same lunch. She also noted that Seto shared three of his classes with a girl they were friends with named Ren, and in one of those classes all three were there, and in another it was Crow and Ren. On the first day of her studying the pair, she had watched Seto. She had seen how in class with only Crow, he was animatedly happy, with only Ren he deflated a little, with both happy again, and alone her was very quiet and only spoke when spoken to first. However during lunch he seemed to completely perk up with Crow there, but not Ren (who was in class).

The next day she took to following Crow throughout the day. Much like Seto, Crow changed depending on who he was with in class. With only Seto, he would talk until yelled at by a teacher then fall to whispering and laughing. When it was just Ren, they didn't speak much but he kept up a good attitude, still talking when he wasn't supposed to only to get glared at by the silver haired girl, she found out from Ren's explanation that he had been making snide comments all through class. With both Seto and Ren, Crow got a detention on the first day Silvia was studying him but didn't seem at all deterred by it, but when he was completely alone a few classes later he was suddenly making all kinds of rude comments towards people who may or may not have deserved it. Like Seto, he was completely back to normal at lunch, and on the next day she followed him she noted that whether he got detention or not, if he was in class without Seto he got a nasty attitude.

On the fourth day, Silvia asked Ren if she could borrow her for a little while during one of the classes she did not share with either boy, the girl answered yes with no questions, and ended up borrowing a science teacher's room by request of Ren (who oddly called the teacher PF), when PF(?) heard it involved Crow and Seto she agreed.

"You've noticed it too, haven't you?" Ren asked, leaning her elbow on the desk she sat at, eyeing the older woman calmly. "The way Crow and Seto act around each other?"

"And without each other, and with only you." Silvia clarified, hearing a chuckle from PF at the main desk up front, and seeing a mildly annoyed look now on Ren's face, only for a brief second "If its them alone, or with you added in, they're very energetic and happy…among other things. However if one is alone with you, his attitude changes just a bit, but put one of them completely alone and they seem like completely different people."

"Have you found anything else, Miss Bell?" Silvia turned to look at the silver hair teacher (she didn't look old, was her hair dyed?).

"Honestly, they seem the happiest together. They act like lovers almost, though by what I hear them and students who know them say, I know differently."

"No, you wouldn't be too far off. They're in love, they're just blind to it." Ren said, looking completely serious. The bell rang signally the next class, and Ren left, leaving Silvia to her thoughts as she watched the boys interact during lunch and part ways after. And Ren had a point…maybe the boys _were_ just completely blind to it?

Her week school week with the group of friends ended, and she went back to her college, contemplating how exactly she would make her notes into a respectable paper. She stayed up late in her dorm, finally driving her roommate Sai to ask what the hell was wrong, and when Silvia didn't answer she stole a peek over her shoulder, looking at the lap top and then at notes scattered around her desk.

"Wait, you weren't studying Crow and Seto from Moon High were you?" The eye patch wearing girl ask.

"Yeah, did you know them?" Sai was a college freshman, a year under Silvia. The girl had come to college right after graduating from the same school she'd been at for a week, the thought had never crossed her mind.

"Did I know them? I locked them in a classroom my senior year to try and get them to confess to each other, nothing ended up happening though and I got a freakin detention." The girl said, rolling her eyes. Silvia laughed and Sai walked away, falling onto her bed and playing with the little stuffed toy her boyfriend had won her and Silvia got back to work, thinking now she knew what to write.

In the end, she made two copies of her paper. One to turn in, and one to send to PF at the high school, though she didn't get a reply back.

The next time she heard from PF actually, was February. A letter had been in her mail box and she'd read it up in her room, Sai reading as usual over her shoulder. Sai smirked, and Silvia felt happy. The letter was signed Professor Firth


	3. Best Friends

It was a bright day in fall when a young, black haired pig tailed girl lost her mother in the park. Really, all she had been doing was playing hide and seek, but she'd gotten lost looking for her hiding place and didn't know her way back. She wandered onto one of the many walking trails surrounded by trees, and with since it was early fall the trees were mixes or greens, oranges, reds and yellows, brighter in some spots under the trees then others. The pig tailed girl decided, she thought that if she waited under one of the bright patches, her mom would find her. Her mom promised to find her, and her mom never broke a promise after all. so she shouldn't worry. It seemed like forever until she heard foot steps on the trail, but when she looked up it wasn't her mommy. It was two older boys holding hands, one had a funny hat on and the other boy had on a bright, bright sea colored hoodie (or at least, it was the color she used to color in her oceans). It was the sea colored boy who stopped and bent down, asking why she was out here all alone

"Mommy and I were playing hide and seek…but I got lost, so I'm waiting for mommy to find me." The boy with the sea colored shirt and red hair frowned, and said "That doesn't seem fair if this is hide and seek…how about we find your mommy instead?" The dark haired boy in the funny purple hat looked ready to refuse, but a look from the red haired one silenced him and he held out his hand to the girl, and she took it standing up.

Walking out of the trails back into the park, the darker haired boy walked behind while the red haired boy and the pig tailed girl walked around, asking about the girl's mother. This went on for about twenty minutes until a woman came running up frantic, and the little girl let go of Seto's hand and ran to her mother crying. Crow walked up to stand next to him, and Seto smiled at the happy looking reunion. The mother and daughter walked over to them, holding hands.

"I cant thank you enough." She said, truly sounding relieved.

"We're just glad we found you…" Seto said, though Crow didn't add anything to it.

"Hey." All three looked down at the pig tailed girl "Why were you holding hands earlier?" Both boys blinked, and Seto kneeled down to her level and smiled.

"Because we're friends." He said.

"**_Best_** friends." Crow corrected, Seto rolled his eyes.

"My mommy says that best friends get married, are you going to get married one day?" She asked, Seto blushed, and both boys were speechless. The woman hushed her daughter, apologizing and saying that they needed to get home to get dinner ready.

Even after the two boys parted ways going home, they couldn't get that one little innocent question out of their minds, and it was only lingering after they woke up the next day.


	4. The Best Day

Professor Firth, fondly called PF, by her students, had actually known Crow and Seto throughout middle school, as well as Ren. She worked at both the middle school and the high school, you see, she taught science at both, but to different degrees. At the middle school she was one of the counselors who eavesdropped on anything that went on in the office, including the monumental amount of times Crow and Seto were in there for apparent PDA. She actually witnessed this one day, and later on that week both boys were in there for that exact reason. She wasn't stupid, she saw the signs even if the two boys didn't, and let them off with a warning. The principal sent Seto and Crow her way a lot after that, and when she tried to get the two of them to realize their possible feelings for each other, neither saw what she was seeing. So she didn't push it.

She did, however, talk to her assistant from the local college's little sister about it, because Ren was good friends with them both and in her office often.

"So they've always acted like that?" She asked one day when Ren was in her office. She'd fallen asleep in one her classes a again, something the teacher complained about because it happened a lot. Both knew it was because Ren had nightmares when she slept at night (about being trapped in a class cage...), but it was a topic Ren didn't enjoy talking about, and they generally almost always got on the topic of Seto and Crow.

"Actually, it used to be a lot worse. Crow used to kiss Seto's forehead until fourth grade when he got yelled at for it by the teacher, he's been kissing his hand almost ever since." She said with a shrug. Through most of the trio's years of middle school, she kept an eye on them, so when they got into high school you can guess what happened then.

She got all three in her science class freshmen year, and had decided to try an experiment. She already knew Crow didn't like sharing Seto with strangers, that was easily apparent (Seto wasn't very social, but it was still worrying…), so she decided to try an experiment. When they did partner labs for the first month, she set up the pairs herself, and always set Seto up with someone who was not Crow or Ren. The first and second times it seemed both were fine, by the fifth time Crow had 'negotiated' with Seto's partner for a switch, and she'd been nice after that and let the class choose their own partners.

Now it was their sophomore year, _winter_ of their sophomore year, and she didn't have them both in class. Not at the same time at least, Ren and Seto were in one of her morning classes but Crow was alone in her after lunch class. And she noted that the college student had a very good point that she only noticed with Crow, that he was in fact a very large jerk when Seto and Ren weren't there, and she wondered if it didn't have to do with just Seto missing in the equation.

She got her answer a few months later in February while she was talking to her assistant from college, Ren's brother Shin about proposing to his girlfriend Sai. Today would have been the day for it, after all. The scene she saw from her window while Shin talked was a snowy one in the school's main courtyard, and she only half heard what the man was saying as she watched a scene play out, almost like out of a romance novel. Today truly was the best day for such things.


	5. Valentine

It was February 14th, a day Crow had always held close to his heart. Valentines Day always made him think that no matter what, he and Seto would never be separated. Surely becoming best friends on such a holiday held some significance? He wasn't sure, but looking down at a small heart shaped card in his hand that he'd colored drawn a red outline on, he knew one thing. He loved Seto, more then a friend, and he always had. He'd finally realized it after Ren's latest outburst at the two of them for holding hands during lunch, yelling something about Ganymede and Valentines day. He ignored most of what she said now, or more so he just tuned it out. Its not like she said anything important usually, but something she had said and stuck with him, like the little girl from the park a few months back. It made him think a few things over, and he decided that Ren had a point on one thing: He didn't like the idea of losing Seto (_she_ called it being possessive, _he_ tuned her out). He enjoyed when he and Seto held hands, because it just felt right, and it felt wrong to leave him even when just going to other classes without a kiss good bye (albeit, a hand kiss, but close enough). Suddenly a lot of the things Ren said made sense, and for once he knew she was right. So in lunch that day to meet in the courtyard after school. As expected Seto asked why (and wasn't answered), but he agreed because it was Crow he was talking to.

School ended, and Crow waited as the snow fell softly down from the sky was just as white. He knew Seto would come, no matter what, because Seto always came. Seto was always there, and Crow didn't want it any other way. Soon, he saw the familiar color of turquoise coming over the snow from one of the exits, running like it was being chased. The black haired boy hoped Seto wasn't being chased, if anyone was chasing him it would be Ren, and God knew he didn't want her here to see this. Thankfully, Seto was just running, and no annoying silver haired girl was following behind. Stopping in front of his, the red haired boy caught his breath."What's up Crow?" He asked, his breath coming out on small puffs ahead of him. Behind his back, Crow's hand tightened around the small, white and red heart card, telling himself it was too late to go back. He pulled it out and held it out to Seto, who took it and opened it. He could tell from the uneven cutting that it was hand made, but it didn't matter to him. What matter was the message written in red in the middle once he'd opened the card, a message written with a stencil. A message that read **'I LOVE YOU'**, and Seto blushed when he raed it, quickly digging through his small brown bag and pulling out… a small plastic bag, and handed it to Crow who started at it oddly.

In the bag was a red heart surrounded in varying types of glitter, and covered copiously with glitter with a small note somehow stapled to it. Crow started at the note a good few moments before the slightly better, hand written, message in blue thin tipped marker **"I love you"** finally made sense in his brain. The two started at their received cards, and then at each other. And on that snowing, cold, February Valentines Day (not that it takes place any other time, but whatever), Crow leaned in and closed the distance between them, their lips meeting in a kiss that wasn't one of just friendship, but love.

They pulled apart, their breath steaming as it came out in pants from lack of breath, and the leaned in and let their foreheads touch.

"I love you, Seto."

"I love you too Crow." There was silence for a few moments, before Seto spoke again.

"What does this make us?" He asked, and Crow laughed. Seto frowned in response.

"Really, really best friends." Crow answered, his normal cat like smile on his face.

"But we just kissed…" Seto said, the frown still on his face.

"Friends kiss." Crow countered.

"So do couples."

"But couples are really good friends, now would you shut up?" Crow asked, leaning in to kiss the mildly annoyed red head.

This was the scene that a certain science teacher saw from her window, which prompted her to write a college student who had been studying the pair earlier in the year for a certain thesis. She told the silver haired friend afterwards, who for the rest of the day was saying "I told you so, you should listen more often." Which was tuned out. After school there were walking through the park hand in hand, and they passed a young pig tailed girl and her mother building a snowman, and the little girl waved at them happily. And as they parted ways to go home, they kissed each other good bye, a kiss that was seen by an old, retired teacher who would recognize those two boys anywhere, because it was in her class that they first gave each other those valentines.

**Fin**

* * *

So….yeah, I have no idea why I wrote this. Initially it was going to be a one shot about one of these two realizing that they were in love with the other and confessing, and the other feeling the same way, but late night thinking turned it into this. I know it's also crazy early for Valentines Day too, so I honestly have no idea how that played into this too. But I hope you liked it, and it wasn't too horribly written. I know a lot of the characters were OOC, the just turned out like that…and I kind of disliked the ending.

_~Explanations~_

**Chapter 1**

I could have just gone with the whole six seas thing, but Ganymede is there for a reason. Its not only a star that you can see in February, but it is also part of the constellation Aquarius, which if my research is correct is the sign representing love.

**Chapter 2**

I was running low on characters, and for some reason I really liked Purple Bell Silvia for this idea. Her major is psychology because it just sort of made sense to me.

**Chapter 3**

The little girl is actually the little girl you have to get the key from when you're still with PF early on in the game. I don't think she had a name and I didn't really think she needed one.

**Chapter 4**

Professor Firth, aka PF. When I thought of this, Professor was always the P in the PF initials, I just had to find an F to go with it. I tried to search for a last name that had something to do with knowledge and found nothing…Firth is a Scottish last name meaning "Scrubland on the edge of the forest", which I thought fit since she was originally buried beneath the park which was right next to a whole ton of trees (and surrounded by trees).

**Chapter 5**

If you didn't guess, the retired teacher is Chiyo (or Ms. Chiyo). I don't know why she's there, the ended seemed wrong without her.


End file.
